I plan to leave my mark on the baseball world; this is where it all begins.

Results tagged ‘ Mark DeRosa ’

I know, it has been a while. I know I didn’t even provide my recounts/experiences watching the first Yankees vs Red Sox series of the year. The reason(s) behind all of this is that I am in the process of studying for my United States History exams. I just took the subject test earlier today, so I don’t feel too guilty about blowing off studying to write this.

Red Sox vs Yankees.

This series was pretty much the exhibition of how most series between these two are. Though the Red Sox did sweep the Yankees, each game was close, and provided an adrenaline rush of a different kind.

My friend, Kathleen, came over for the first one. It was really nice to have our top three pitchers go out against the Yankees. Ortiz warned Joba not to throw at Youkilis’ head, because Joba seems to have something against Kevin Youkilis. He has thrown at his head four times. And though Chamberlain avoided Youkilis’ head, he did hit Jason Varitek, who may look similar to Youkilis because of the beard.

Jason Bay is establishing himself as the clutch hitter of our lineup. To help Mariano Rivera blow his twelfth career save against the Red Sox, Jason Bay hit a home run that just hit the top of the monster to tie the game.

Kathleen called Youkilis’ shot to win the game– yes, the walk-off shot that I was craving. The next game was even longer than the first, and it didn’t even go into extra innings. I’m pretty sure Joba told AJ Burnett to hit Kevin Youkilis, so that he would not have to get into any skirmishes with Big Papi. Anyway, Mike Lowell was the hero of that game.

But the hero of the series? That, my friends, would be Jacoby Ellsbury. We all know that Andy Petite has a wicked pickoff move to first base, one of the best in the majors. But the left hander wasn’t really expecting Jacoby Ellsbury to steal home with the bases loaded and two outs, and neither was Jorge Posada. But he did, and Fenway went absolutely insane.

It was the first time a Red Sox had done that in ten years, and it was all over the highlight reels for the next few days.

The winning streak was broken up in Clevland, thanks to an error by Javier Lopez. Javier Lopez was the antagonist of the series against Clevland. First, an error in the second game of the series so that Mark DeRosa scored from second. I was threatening to pull him off of my fantasy team. And in the last game of the series? Javy did so poorly that the Red Sox had to pull a Nick Swisher. Jonathan Van Every, who what would become the game winning home run in the first game of the series, had to come in and pitch. I’m pretty sure that he is going to be a late addition to my projects. He didn’t really play much in spring training because he either had a sprained ankle, or surgery.

I really am sorry for the lack of updates, and I promise that this one will be more coherent tomorrow. I’m going to the Red Sox vs Rays tonight (four hour drive, woohoo!), and I hope to see Rays Renegade there!

Today, I realized something– I can tell you more about baseball than I can about global issues– way more. I honestly did not know the name of the North Korean dictator until this afternoon. Is this bad? I remember Jane mentioning a story similar to this in her book. She was reading the newspaper and some kind of headline like ‘The Tribe is Suffering’ came up, and she thought it was about the Cleveland Indians. I’m not going to lie to you, upon reading it, I thought she was referencing the Cleveland Indians as well. I live in my own little baseball bubble as well.

For example, in math today, when my teacher asked me the scores of the World Baseball Classic from Sunday, I was perfectly able to recite that. When he asked me to find the external arc of a circle, I was clueless.

During my Life Skills class, we began learning about drugs; so we were each assigned a drug to research and present to the class. I kindly forced asked the student next to me to switch topics with me so I could write about steroids. Don’t get me wrong, I will talk about steroids in my project, but I think I’m going to go on a long tangent about steroids in baseball, and then go on to talk about Pete Rose and how it’s ridiculous that he is not in the Hall of Fame.

I had heard about the rumored Jon Lester deal yesterday, but it wasn’t until I was watching Team USA beat up on Team Venezuela that I heard that the deal was finalized. It was a five year deal worth $30 million, with a $14 million option for 2014! This is what the Red Sox have been doing all offseason: locking up their proven young players! We all know that Jon Lester had a breakout year last year. I don’t need to re-emphasize his no-hitter and that great comeback story of his. The bottom line is: he is a good pitcher. He has great command of his fastball, and is even working on a changeup! At this pace, he is on the track to becoming one of the most feared left handed pitchers of the game.

A-Rod is officially having surgery, though, not the same surgery that Mike Lowell had on his torn labrum. I think this is “arthroscopic surgery” and they few medical terms that I know are the ones that I have heard of on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. This is not one of them. However, from what I have gathered, this surgery will allow A-Rod to return in 6-9 weeks rather than 12-16 weeks. This was the right decision.

Like I’ve said before, it was painful for me to watch Mike Lowell play last season, and it was painful for him. If it’s already painful for Alex, it was only going to get worse. This surgery will minimize the damage, and he will have the rest of the surgery after the season. Plus, this gives A-Rod some down time. With this steroid scandal, and his inability to keep a straight story, and all Torre’s blows to him– he needs some time off.

So what are the Yankees to do in the meantime without their cleanup batter? Alright so they have Cody Ransom to fill the void at third base, but that does not fill the offensive void. The Yankees are going to have to totally re-work their lineup. Sure Mark Teixeira has a bat, but other than him, the offense is a tad on the mediocre side. Luckily they have some serious pitching to balance that.

World Baseball Classic

The USA is redeeming itself after the 2006 tournament as it did not falter after its first win. They beat Team Venezuela 15-6 thanks to some key hits off of the shaky Venezuelan bullpen, and some strong relief pitching.

Roy Oswalt had a decent outing, but definitely not the best. The problem is, these games actually matter (in a sense). This is still Spring Training to some of these guys. The guys on international teams have been playing Winter Ball. These guys? This is just the start of stuff for them.

The US broke it open in the sixth inning by scoring eight runs. Mark DeRosa hit a triple and batted in a total of four runs. Chris Iannetta had a great bases clearing double and also had four RBIs. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with Ianetta. Kevin Youkilis and Adam Dunn hit their second home runs of the classic, and Ryan Braun hit his first. Dustin Pedroia had a great play at second base if you guys didn’t get to see it. It was one of those plays that NO ONE should make.

The bullpen was backed by some great run support so Ziegler’s two earned runs and Bell’s one were not that significant. Matt Lindstrom of the Florida Marlins picked up the win.

Red Sox Spring Training

On Sunday I had to go to school for an American History catch up day– didn’t mind too much because I love that class. Anyway, the class started at one, and there was a Red Sox vs Rays game at one. Luckily, my friend lent me his iPhone so I was periodically refreshing the play-by-play throughout the whole class.

Julio Lugo had a great day as he went 3-3 with two RBIs and two doubles. My project, Nick Green, hit a home run, as did Zach Daeges (despite his weird batting stance) and Jonathan Van Every.

Justin Masterson pitched three beautiful innings of one hit ball and was followed by Jonathan Papelbon, who threw a scoreless inning but allowed two runs. Did I mention that he is working on a slider? Yet another pitch to vanquish victims. Daniel Bard (potential project) struck out the side, and Junichi Tazawa and Michael Bowden each allowed one run.

I have now set a goal for Michael Bowden: one outing without any earned runs!

The Red Sox played an exciting game today against the Pittsburgh Pirates, which the Red Sox won on an RBI double by Josh Reddick in the bottom of the tenth. I watched the first two innings during my Life Skills class while “researching” steroids. I wasn’t just going to pass up that opportunity.

One of my projects, Jeff Bailey, went 3-4 with a double and an RBI. Project Nick Green hit another home run as did Dusty Brown. I remember Dusty Brown from last year’s Spring Training and from a Pawtucket game. I like him, but I need to see a bit more of him to decide his project potential.

Josh Bard continued to
make his presence known by hitting another home run today and collecting three RBIs. I’m thinking that this whole competition thing is making Lowrie a little nervous. I just want him to be himself, because I know he can do well either starting on off the bench.

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